Early Boston Leader Kim Smith Explains Calf Woes

Kim Smith had planned to take it out fast and had nearly succeeded were it not for her calf. Photo: PhotoRun.net

Kim Smith had planned to take it out fast and had nearly succeeded were it not for her calf. Photo: PhotoRun.net

She had planned to take it out fast from the start.

For the first 15 miles, it looked like Kim Smith was going to win yesterday’s Boston Marathon. From the very beginning, she had established herself in the front gaining as much as a minute lead at certain points during the race.

However, a win was not in the cards for the New Zealand runner. She recalls that near the 15-mile mark, she began to experience searing pain in her left calf.

“Just sharp pain in my calf,’’ explained Smith afterwards. “I nearly fell over a couple of times.I tried to change the way I was running for a few miles, to see if it would ease. It would go on and off, and in the end I just couldn’t run any further because it was really painful.’’

By the 18-mile mark, Kim had stopped and the chase pack quickly reeled her in. She ended up dropping out of the race.

Smith had decided to take it out fast from the beginning. “I’ve just been feeling good and training well, and I didn’t want it to be a slow race,’’ she said. “So I decided to just take it out. That was the plan that we had.’’

Duncan Larkin

Duncan Larkin is a freelance journalist and author who’s been covering the sport of running for over a decade. He’s run 2:32 in the marathon and won the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race in 2007. He wrote the book RUN SIMPLE, and coaches runners of all abilities.
You can learn more about him here: http://roadsmillslaps.tumblr.com/about